A Malaysian coroner began an inquest today into the death of 15-year-old Nóra Quoirin, a year after her body was found near a nature resort where vanished while on holiday.
Nóra Anne Quoirin's disappearance from her family's cottage at the Dusun eco-resort in southern Negeri Sembilan state on August 4 last year, a day after her family arrived for their holiday, sparked a massive search operation.
Her naked body was discovered on August 13 beside a stream in a palm oil estate about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) from the resort.
Coroner Maimoonah Aid said the inquest is aimed at determining when Nóra died, the cause of her death, how she came to her death, and if anyone was criminally involved.
Negeri Sembilan police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop, the first witness, said the investigation showed no criminal element. He said there was no indication Nóra was abducted and no ransom demand.
Police believe Nóra climbed out of a window on her own, and the postmortem showed she succumbed to intestinal bleeding due to starvation and stress, he said.
Her Irish mother and French father, Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, say Nóra was kidnapped because she had mental and physical disabilities and could not have wandered off on her own.
Resort owner Haanim Bamadhaj, who gave evidence via video conference, said Nora's parents had told her the teenager only had on her underwear when she went missing and that she would hide when she was frightened.
Recalling the night, Ms Haanim, whose house faces the Quorin's cottage, said it was peaceful and that her dog, who would bark if there were outsiders, was also quiet.
She acknowledged that a window of the cottage that was found ajar the morning Nóra disappeared was faulty and could be opened from the outside. But she said there have never been any criminal break-ins in her property since it opened for business 11 years ago.
A recording of the girl's mother calling "Nóra darling, Nóra, Nóra, mummy here" that was used during the search was played to the court.
The coroner earlier this month visited the resort and the place where Nóra's body was found. The inquest, which is set to run until September 4, is to involve 64 witnesses.
The Quoirin family lawyer, S Sakhty Vell, said Nora's parents could not attend the inquest due to the coronavirus pandemic but will give evidence via video conference. A British doctor who conducted a second postmortem on Nóra's body will also give evidence remotely, he said.
The Quoirin family has sued the resort owner for alleged negligence. They said in their lawsuit that there was no security at the resort and that a cottage window was found ajar with a broken latch on the morning Nóra disappeared.
Nóra had poor motor skills and needed help to walk and her mental age was about five or six years old, her parents said in the lawsuit.
Gurdial Singh Nijar, the lawyer representing the resort, told reporters after the first day of the inquest that the incident was unfortunate but "there was no culpability" on the part of the resort owner.
Nóra's parents have welcomed Malaysia's decision to hold the inquest after police classified the case as "no further action". They said the inquest will be "crucial in determining the fullest possible picture of what happened to Nóra and how her case was dealt with".